On September 4, at the headquarters of the Ministry of National Defense, General Phan Van Giang - Politburo member, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission, Minister of National Defense - welcomed and held talks with Senior Lieutenant General Zakir Hasanov - Minister of National Defense of Azerbaijan - who is visiting Vietnam and attending the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day on September 2.
At the meeting, General Phan Van Giang thanked Senior Lieutenant General Zakir Hasanov for attending the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day on September 2, emphasizing that Vietnam attaches importance to consolidating and strengthening the traditional friendship with Azerbaijan that was cultivated by President Ho Chi Minh and late President Heydar Aliev as well as many generations of leaders and people of the two countries.
In particular, during General Secretary To Lam's visit to Azerbaijan in May 2025, the two countries established a Strategic Partnership, contributing to creating an increasingly extensive foundation for defense cooperation.
The construction of the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense as a Monument to honor Soviet military experts (including Azerbaijani experts) at the Vietnam Military History Museum demonstrates the affection of the Party, State, Army and people of Vietnam for the valuable help of Azerbaijan in Vietnam's resistance wars, contributing to fostering the traditional friendship between the two countries and the two armies.
The Minister of National Defense stated that Vietnam consistently implements the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, multilateralization and diversification of foreign relations, and adheres to the "four no's" defense policy.
Vietnam's consistent viewpoint is to persistently fight to resolve all disputes and disagreements by peaceful means on the basis of international law, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea UNCLOS 1982; international and regional commitments such as the Declaration on the Southern Sea Conduct (DOC); support and promote the early signing of the Code of Conduct of the Parties in the East Sea (COC) in a practical and effective manner, in accordance with international law.
Regarding the direction of defense cooperation, General Phan Van Giang suggested that the two sides study and coordinate to increase delegation exchanges, promote training cooperation; create favorable conditions for defense enterprises of the two countries to meet and cooperate in the fields of defense industry, military trade, logistics - engineering, support international multilateral activities organized by each side, and at the same time study and expand areas of cooperation that both sides have needs and potential.
The Minister suggested studying opening a defense proxy room in each country to promote defense cooperation between the two countries. Vietnam is ready to welcome Azerbaijani military students to study Vietnamese at the Academy of Military Sciences and attend international defense official courses at the Vietnam Defense Academy.
Senior General Zakir Hasanov thanked the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense for inviting the delegation to attend the celebration and pay an official visit to Vietnam. He expressed his pleasure at witnessing the good relations between the two countries, especially after the visit of General Secretary To Lam.
He emphasized that the potential for cooperation between the two countries is still very large, and hoped that the two sides would actively promote defense cooperation, thereby making a substantial and effective contribution to the relationship between the two countries.
At the end of the talks, the two ministers signed a Protocol between the two countries' Ministries of National Defense on military training cooperation.
